| Project Detail |
Management submits the following proposal and recommendation for an ADB Loan of two hundred and fortymillion United States Dollars (USD 240,000,000) to the Republic of Mauritius to finance the second Phase of the Economic Competitiveness and Resilience Support Program (ECRSPII). The ECRSP was designed as a programmatic series of two consecutive General Budget Support (GBS) operations covering the fiscal years 2022/23-2023/24 for total financing of four hundred and ninety million USD (USD 490,000,000).This is the second phase of the two-year series of the Program Based Operation (PBO). It follows Board approval of the first phase on 29 March 2023 for an amount of two hundred and fifty million USD (USD 250,000,000) and subsequent implementation of the related program measures. Project Objectives The overarching development objective of the ECRSP II is to continue to support enhancing economic diversification and competitiveness with a view to strengthening resilience and achieving more inclusive and sustainable growth. It will help to address diminishing productivity and competitiveness which has led to Mauritius losing a significant share of its export market due to failure to sufficiently scale up to new, more complex exports. The proposed program will continue to support post-pandemic economic recovery through wide ranging climate-friendly business environment and real sector reforms. Beneficiaries The beneficiaries of the program remain the same as under the ECRSP I. The program’s direct beneficiaries are MoFEPD and the ministries responsible for the areas covered by the operation. These include the Ministry of Environment, Solid Waste Management and Climate Change; Ministry of Agro-Industry and Food Security; Ministry of Industrial Development, SMEs and Cooperatives; Ministry of Labour, Human Resources Development and Training; Ministry of Energy and Public Utilities; and Ministry of Gender Equality and Family Welfare.The private sector will benefit from improved investment opportunities in agriculture and industry. The SMEs will benefit from an improved policy framework and access to markets and business skills, as they struggle to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. Ultimately, the program will indirectly benefit all Mauritians as the financing will help to expand the fiscal space for critical development spending and job creation, and climate-smart sector reforms will help attract private investments for green growth and job creation.Wide range of stakeholders are involved in the implementation of the program. These include the Bank, through the PBO and other related interventions, other Development Partners who provide complementary support as well as non-state actors such as civil society. |
